‘Sealed’ court cases accessed 657 times

Months after first alleging her predecessor gave the county attorney access to sealed files, Clerk of the Superior Court Amanda Stanford released most of the case numbers affected Friday.

She called the release of the file numbers “a public service.”

Of the 139 cases, Stanford said there were 657 viewings logged. According to the Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court, all but three of the breaches occurred during the administration of Chad Roche, whom Stanford defeated in last year’s Republican primary.

The 105 released cases included criminal, domestic and juvenile proceedings and even marriage license information. Crimes included forgery, endangerment, assault, abuse, illegal drugs and sexual exploitation of a minor.

According to the Pinal County Attorney’s Office (PCAO), however, the access issue was with the Office of the Clerk of the Court. PCAO disputed the characterization of most of the files as sealed. The “vast majority” of the documents cited are allowed to be accessed by the county attorney’s office, the PCAO responded.

“The Pinal County Attorney’s Office believes no cases were jeopardized and no defendants deprived of justice,” Pinal County Attorney Lando Voyles said in a statement Monday. “We continue to vigorously prosecute those who violate the law in Pinal County in an effort to continue keeping Pinal families safe.”

Three cases of breached files in 2013 came to light last year, including a death-penalty case from which the Pinal County Attorney’s Office was eventually disqualified from prosecuting. The visiting judge in that case, Gila County Superior Court Judge Peter Cahill, ruled Voyles and his staff showed “deliberate disregard of court orders” in accessing sealed records.

In February, Roche said the 2013 issues had been resolved by the time he left office and “everything that happened has been addressed multiple times publicly and there were no further issues under my administration.”

The state Supreme Court stepped in to train the Clerk of the Court on how to use and secure the system, according to PCAO.

The “system” is the Arizona Judicial Automated Case System (AJACS). The Office of the Clerk of the Court did not blame AJACS either.

“It is not a fault within the system,” said Odette Apodaca, Business Operations manager. “It was an issue within the assignment of securities.”

According to the clerk’s office, cases were viewed by non-court personnel and at public access terminals in the Florence office. The clerk’s staff is also examining records in the Casa Grande and Apache Junction satellite offices to see if there was incorrect access at those sites as well.

The lobby computers were shut down and access permissions removed.

PCAO put the responsibility for managing the system on the shoulders of the clerk’s office.

The Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court sent its data to the Arizona Supreme Court, the Administrative Office of the Courts, the Attorney General’s Office and the presiding judge and criminal presiding judge of Pinal County.

“We do know that it is the current intention of AOC to appoint a Special Master Judge,” Stanford stated in Friday’s press release, “but it is too preliminary in the process to comment further.”

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